The sorrow of the past two days need not be mentioned. That evening, more than ten women in the living room clung to me as they slept, and when they woke up the next morning to see me and five others—Xiao Yudi, Xiao Hui, and the rest—off to the underwater base, every single one of them had red, swollen eyes.

"Alright, don't be sad," I told them. "Stay good while I'm gone. I'll be back in six months at the most. When I return, I'll be checking on your performance. If anyone dares to flirt with other boys, be careful I divorce her. Qianqian, I'm watching you especially closely."

The women dissolved their tears into smiles. Ouyang Qian pouted at me angrily to express her displeasure. The rest chorused, "You need to be careful! If you dare fool around in ancient times, be careful we stop talking to you when you get back! Also, you must return on time, preferably early, or we’ll miss you terribly here at home."

Zhu Da and the other two were already waiting at the base beneath the Okinawa Trough. When we arrived, we all boarded the Hope interstellar battleship. Xiao Hui turned to the four of us and said, "According to the plan, the four of you will be teleported to different locations on Earth six thousand years ago. This is to facilitate the search for Elena because we aren't sure of her landing spot. We have to widen the search area. Also, this is the sketch Peach made of the man in black; he wears a hood, so his face is obscured. Take a good look at him; pay close attention to this person once you’re in the past. We believe you will certainly encounter him, or you wouldn't have made an enemy of him."

Zhu Da glanced at the photo and grunted, "Fine. I've memorized that dog's snout of a face. If I run into him, I guarantee I'll beat him to a pulp."

Xiao Hui continued, "You cannot bring anything back with you, including weapons, clothes, or any cells that have aged and died. When you arrive six millennia in the past, you must figure out solutions for everything on your own. Remember today's date; we will attempt to send you back from the original location on the first day of every month. If we fail to retrieve you after six consecutive attempts, we will come to your rescue."

Yi Xiaorou turned to me. "Since Elena's reality room was blasted into dust, we can't pinpoint her exact location. However, during our research, we discovered that spacetime teleportation drains an enormous amount of energy from the body. Unless you have a modified physique like yours, an ordinary person sent back six thousand years might be as weak as a pile of mud for a certain period. That’s why we can’t be certain if Elena perished. If you can't find her, don't dwell on it too much. Figure out what happened with the man in black and return quickly, or we will modify our physiques and come looking for you."

I nodded and asked the five women, "The retrieval system is definitely foolproof, right? Don't abandon us in the past while your entire family heads back. It won't be fun for us to live as primitives."

Xiao Yudi confirmed firmly, "Don't worry, Big Brother. I guarantee there won't be any mishaps. When have the things I promised you ever gone wrong? We aren't like those people from Country M, always messing up with junk. However, the teleportation will be somewhat painful, so you must bear through it."

The transmission pod of the spacetime machine was a spherical object with six cramped seats inside. The four of us sat down, buckled our restraints one by one, and the hatch sealed tightly. Then, the accelerator, driven by the Heart of Energy, began to spin. After reaching a certain initial velocity, the Heart of Energy suddenly emitted a dazzling, brilliant light that enveloped the pod. The light intensified, and the surroundings seemed to become a high-voltage electric field. Anyone nearby would likely be electrocuted into a charred stick.

Bang! The intense light vanished abruptly, and then the transmission pod ground to a halt. The five women stared through the protective glass at the now-empty pod, weeping as they clung to each other. Although they all believed the four would return safely, they didn't know how many months this separation would last. Girls who had never been away from their lovers for so long couldn't possibly bear it, especially Zhao Fen and Zhao Fang, who cried like they were made of tears.

"What should we do next?" Yi Xiaorou suddenly asked the four of them.

Xiao Yudi said, "Go home and wait peacefully. Unless something else happens, nobody is allowed to go out. We must protect ourselves while Big Brother isn't home."

Zhao Fang asked, "What about those studying outside? Should they come home too?"

Xiao Yudi declared resolutely, "Yes, Sister Zhao Fen, you need to issue the order. Everyone listens to you now. I trust that they have learned just as much at home as they would outside. Have them all return to prevent any unforeseen incidents. Otherwise, it will distract Peach, who will have to look after them, making it easy for enemies to seize an opportunity."

"You, you guys don't arrange yourselves in that order. Let’s stick to age order. I’m still a child," Zhao Fen said shyly.

But Yi Xiaorou insisted firmly, "No, you must follow the order of succession; that’s the only way to command respect. Fenfen, have some confidence in yourself. Zhao Qian isn't home; you need to be the dependable elder sister." Zhao Fen nodded with determination. "I understand. Everyone, go home."

Only now did I realize why animals sent back to the past never left their transmission points—they always appeared precisely there. They were all just completely disoriented. It would take them a day or two to recover after reaching the past.

Not only was I dizzy, but the sudden stop of the transmission pod caused my rapidly spinning body to lose balance. I felt myself wrench free from the belt restraints and fly up. But this flight was an agonizing kind of flying, worse than dizziness; it felt as if my limbs and torso were being shredded and scattered everywhere.

Oh my god, if Elena experienced this same sensation, I believe she is 99.9% dead, not living happily in the past as she described. Even with my B-class superhuman physique, I couldn't endure it. I doubt Zhu Da and Cai Bao'er are much stronger, let alone Elena, who possessed little power.

This painful feeling seemed to last an eternity—I thought a full century had passed—before I finally heard a sound like a pig being slammed down. A sharp pain in my back signaled that I had landed.

My vision flashed with golden lights, and with immense difficulty, I managed to open my eyes. Damn it, I couldn't see anything! My eyes were spinning from the rotation, compounded by that agonizing flight; everything was a riot of color, making it impossible to see anything clearly.

But I am stubborn. First, I needed to confirm if this was truly six thousand years ago. Second, I needed to assess if there was danger. Even if it cost me my life, I had to stand up and look around.

I staggered to my feet, hands and knees scraping the ground. My physical strength was utterly depleted, and my legs trembled violently. A gentle breeze could probably knock me over. I forced my vision to stabilize and looked around. Wow, where in the world was I? There was nothing but sky above me. Was I still in transit? Was this just some kind of intermediate point? But Xiao Hui hadn't mentioned any layovers during the transfer.

If this was a transfer point, what was I standing on? Thinking this, I looked down at my feet—it was rock. Then I looked ahead—the view was a sheer drop! Looking around again, it was all open sky! I realized I was standing on a patch of rock barely two square meters wide, surrounded by empty air. Heavens, was I standing on Mount Buzhou?

I unconsciously leaned over to peer down. A white cloud drifted beneath my feet. The extreme altitude sent another wave of violent vertigo through my brain. I had already been on the verge of vomiting from the spinning; now looking down from such a height, how could I not feel dizzy? My foot slipped, and I staggered back two steps. Crack! Several pieces of loose stone crumbled under my weight, and as my foot gave way, my body pitched backward. The sound of rushing wind roared in my ears. I was completely done for—I had fallen off this bizarre, high mountain!

I tried to force my body into a supersonic state to achieve flight and avoid being smashed into a pulp, but the preceding teleportation had drained every bit of my stamina. I couldn't do anything; I could only listen to the wind as my body plummeted at top speed!

For more novels, visit storyread.net.